Top five pros and top five cons for your home city (real estate, high crime)

[dosequis man]

5 best things about your city followed by top 5 worst things? Hearing about each major metro here would be great, and even if your city was posted about, do it again so we can see if there is a consensus. I will begin with my home city, Chicago Illinois

Chicago pros
1. The architecture
2. Variety of experiences
3. Unique neighborhoods
4. Damn good food
5 . Fairly affordable, for now

Chicago cons
1. City services severely lacking
2. Traffic congestion is second worse in U.S.
3. Not nearly as walkable as people claim
4. Long..freezing..long..lonnnng winters
5. People are clannish, damn near provincial

[Natural510]

Oakland, California:

Pros:
Great weather; Mediterranean climate minus the wind & fog of nearby towns
Excellent food; lots of organic and international options
Lake Merritt in the city's center
Transportation hub to the greater Bay Area
"Liberal/progressive" population, minus the nauseating self-righteousness of a Berkeley

Cons:
High crime rate
Entitlement complex among many of the residents
Very racially-minded town, despite ingrained ethnic diversity
Corrupt & incompetent city government (like most working-class cities)
Formerly great sports franchises ruined by greedy and careless owners

[west336]

I'll do both cities I call "home":

CLEVELAND
Cleveland Pros:
-amazing amenities
-cheap
-dense/walkable
-family-friendly
-great architecture/infrastructure

Cleveland Cons:
-poor as f**k!
-highly segregated
-people have negative attitudes / depressing
-terrible public schools in many places
-cloudy

MINNEAPOLIS
Minneapolis Pros:
-progressive/thriving Midwestern metropolis
-great schools
-family-friendly
-beautiful parks/lakes/scenery
-amazing business climate

Minneapolis Cons:
-behind in diversity (it's good, but it bothers me that it lags the nat'l avg.)
-roadway infrastructure is lightyears behind (traffic is compounded by this)
-colder climate (doesn't bother me as much as it apparently bothers the rest of the nation)
-not ambitious as it could be (NIMBY!)
-passive aggressivism

[Huckleberry3911948]

chicago home town
best opportunity to get fast on my feet
best opportunity to get tough
best opportunity to build up a resistence to cold
best opportunity to find a means of escape
best opportunity to experience "gooning" at its best

[west336]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

chicago home town
best opportunity to get fast on my feet
best opportunity to get tough
best opportunity to build up a resistence to cold
best opportunity to find a means of escape
best opportunity to experience "gooning" at its best

Is this really you, or is this what you think you should say?

[Chicago60614]

My hometown of Iowa City:

Pros:
Open minded
Extremely safe
Excellent education
Healthy economy and growing population
Optimistic people who work together towards the community instead of creating factions.

Cons:
Winters are annoying
Far from other large cities
35,000 college students can be aggrivating at times
Can come off a bit elitist towards Iowa, although much of the time Iowa just accepts it
Current growth patterns are very cliche and sprawled

Chicago:

Pros:
Very lively and entertaining, especially in summer - great bar scene
Fact you can live without a car
Diverse food and people
Architecture
Down to earth and pretty casual

Cons:
Culture in many neighborhoods is apathetic towards society, creating huge issues with the schools/kids
Crime
Public transit could be so much better if people gave it 2 cents
Corruption
Winters turn people off (although I'm one of those sick people who actually loves winter)

[Gnutella]

Pittsburgh pros

1. Unemployment has been below the national average for almost five years
2. Average income and education levels are increasing rapidly
3. High demand for commercial and high-end residential real estate
4. Many city neighborhoods are resurgent, and even the suburbs don't sprawl too far out
5. Underrated cultural and recreational attributes to go with the sports teams

Pittsburgh cons

1. I-376 through the city is not engineered to modern Interstate standards
2. Cloudy weather from November through March can get to some people
3. Black and Hispanic populations are relatively small for a metropolitan area its size
4. Crippling legacy costs have the city on the verge of insolvency
5. Many people's image of the city is obsolete by at least 20 years

Athens, GA positives

1. It is the quintessential American college town
2. Sun Belt-type suburban sprawl is limited
3. It has metro Atlanta, the north Georgia mountains and three large lakes within an hour's drive
4. The vibe on football game days is lots of fun, with SEC-style tailgating everywhere
5. It's far enough north and high enough in elevation for some variety in the weather

Athens, GA negatives

1. It's the largest city in the South with no direct Interstate access
2. It's far enough away from Atlanta that radio signals are weak in some parts of town
3. Gas prices are among the most expensive in Georgia
4. The quality of the public schools in Clarke County isn't very good
5. The Athens Perimeter needs to be widened to six lanes

[2e1m5a]

Philadelphia

Pros
-The food and bar scene (one of the most creative and locally based IMO)
-the culture/traditions of the city and people and the "city of neighborhoods" aspect
-the park system (one of the largest if not THE largest in the country)
-walkability/public transit (again, one of the most walkable and most expansive PT cities)
-affordabilty (probably the most affordable major city on the East Coast, save Baltimore)

Cons
-extensive poverty/crime
-history of corrupt political leaders
-former industrial areas/refineries/unused river ports creating eyesores in parts
-the taxicab system
-the oftentimes ineptness of Septa (Inepta)

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by dosequis man

5 best things about your city followed by top 5 worst things? Hearing about each major metro here would be great, and even if your city was posted about, do it again so we can see if there is a consensus. I will begin with my home city, Chicago Illinois

Chicago pros
1. The architecture
2. Variety of experiences
3. Unique neighborhoods
4. Damn good food
5 . Fairly affordable, for now

Chicago cons
1. City services severely lacking
2. Traffic congestion is second worse in U.S.
3. Not nearly as walkable as people claim
4. Long..freezing..long..lonnnng winters
5. People are clannish, damn near provincial

Louisville

Pros
1. Great restaurant scene and diversity.
2. Excellent park system.
3. Low cost-of-living.
4. Proximity to other major cities.
5. Safer than most major cities.

Cons
1. Little sunshine in between Nov-May.
2. Lack of quality jobs outside of healthcare and warehouses.
3. Not very ethnically diverse (though there suprisingly a lot of interracial dating.)
4. High allergy rates as a part of the Ohio Valley.
5. Kentucky's absymal educational system gets worst in the city proper.

My hometown of Hampton, VA:

Pros:
1. Next to water and close to VA Beach.
2. Average crime rate.
3. Solid black middle class.
4. Home of Hampton U.
5. Langley AFB and NASA.

Cons:
1. Lack of quality jobs outside of defense.
2. Housing is too high for the wage sale.
3. School system is underacheiving.
4. No real wow factor.
5. Kind of wastes its potential.

[FlyMIA]

Miami:
Pros:
1. Tropocal Climate Good weather, warm year round. Tropical scenary, Beaches, Coral Reefs, Palm Trees, the Animals etc..
2. Nightlife/Entertainment just about anything you want to do great food too.
3. Diverse City, people from all over the world.
4. Huge aviation city (I love aviation so for me this is a big plus)
5. Overall city life, world known etc.. Just the normal advantages of living in a well known and large city like Miami.
Cons:
1. Public Transportation, besides for a select few areas its terrible
2. Attitudes of some of the new immigrants and their inability to speak English
3. Polticians here, I just feel like so many are dumb and dont understand the potential this city has.
4. Public Schools, most of them are pretty bad.
5. Large city problems. Ones that come to mind first: Cost of living, Crime, Traffic, Terrible drivers.